A New Year's Serve

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Rachael Turnbull

This person with a large witness-ship first says 7 to 2, then indicates 9 to 2, and 9 to 2 with racket head following a curved path around the numbers rather than cutting across the clock face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WYPioDix1I&feature=related

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Listen to Everybody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYpeawQ2-EI&feature=related

Is such a course going to hurt you? Not if you're rotorded already.

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How to Hammer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RiKFmKXPKs

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Powerful Kick

Phil Picuri (gzhpcu) is right. We're caught in a Sisyphean cloud of biomechanic ideas (# 1058), each one promising the lucky solution to Totka-like kick.

Bad enough that we have to push a huge granite boulder up a hill in Hades, but to have to push in nimbus mist and never cumulus-- well, talk about adding insult to injury.

Today's idea, however, may be the exception that proves the rule. For at the close of yesterday's session, the tennis balls started flying much faster-- not what I wanted but splendid omen nevertheless.

The Pelikan brand indelible black inklings of a breakthrough started with more continuousness rather than less, viz. abandonment of double-clutch once and for all. Yes, the elbow does fall down and climb up, and then fall down and climb up again BUT NOT IN THE WAY ONE THOUGHT!

In fact, scapular adduction and scapular retraction can prove much the same depending on one's physical orientation. Scapular something can take the racket down with the aid of gravity and scapular something can take the racket up the other side of a Wagnerian gorge.

The difference from recent experiments is that the climbing racket is spinning constantly like a propeller. No longer is there slavish correspondence between the bending of the body as longbow and the clenching of the arm to a geometric right angle. We're so unnecessarily stuck to whatever we first learned.

And as for significant change of direction in the arm transition-- it's limited to ulna-to-radius wrist cock.

No, the right-hander bends and bends and bends some more until the racket tip, not upright like a skunk's tail, points downward like a skunked dog's tail to-- viewed from behind-- eight or seven or even to six o'clock.

With all of this happening early and soon as part of toss-and-lift!

Now the legs can drive completing the bend of the body into its fully cocked archer's bow.

This is what causes the racket to come down a few inches, not some awkward, inelegant double-clutch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds6CZ4qCXD4

Note: The arm took a sharp turn close to the body as it fell down, with the size of this move increased then by body turn.

The arm indeed went out sideways from the body (not forward or entirely backward) as it started its spinning climb.

What is the strings orientation just then? Perpendicular to the target! Well, can this orientation be held during the subsequent upside down hammer chop? Why not!!

One thinks of spinning body pushing arm around. Not! The body spins. The arm hammers upward. But these two actions go in different directions. They diverge.

Does horizontal body rotation keep hand under the ball? Yes. Does vertical body rotation help ball catch on strings just barely missing the upper frame? Yes.

Should arm stay in one relation with shoulders rather than going for a solo? At least past contact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c06ToXPyJYA&feature=relmfu

[bottle]

Different Cylinders

How different is the golfer's cylinder of Percy Boomer and David Ledbetter from the tennis player's/quarterback's/baseball pitcher's cylinder of Pat Dougherty?

Boomer's: The imaginary cylinder you put around yourself is full body and especially useful to keep yourself from bending your knees TOO MUCH. (They would snag against the inside of the cylinder, Boomer noted.)

Dougherty's: The imaginary cylinder you put around yourself is rather a girdle from knees to armpits to turn that section of your body into the handle of a whip. Here's Dougherty's video on the subject once again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c06ToXPyJYA&feature=relmfu

I continue with my idea of developing separate figure 8 repeating pattern exercises for flat, slice and kick serves, but while keeping body from knees to armpits in one piece, even when there is big bend at the knees, which would slant that one piece a lot.

Oh, here's another video which seems pertinent. The five or four or three or two or one "shadow" swings to which Dougherty refers, coming just before actually hitting a ball into the back fence, are figure 8's, flat serve variety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um5q7Lx107k

Toss-hit, toss-hit. The rhythm of this seems everything. Start with that and you should see some dramatic changes in technique without thinking about them too much.

[bottle]

Whip or Hammer?

So, which will it be? The two things aren't the same, are they? You wouldn't want to whip a house together (# 1068). And what do we think about the tennis gurus who use these two terms interchangeably? Do we normally notice? But if, through a miracle of perception, we've detected this shift, this sudden change in point of view, what are we going to do about it? Should we deny these guys their reputations, their credibility forever? Seems a waste. Instead, let's choose the one of the two devices we like better on this particular day. And where are we in our match-- what's the score? That could matter.

[bottle]

Should the Russian Lady's Elbow Go Down?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um5q7Lx107k

I had one question about Amina's serve after a few days from my first viewing of this video went by. Did Amina drop her elbow as part of a hammering motion after Pat Dougherty administered his corrective?

The answer: no. The elbow stays up until after contact. But the elbow still does drop just before the arm goes up and out from Amina's body. It drops more just then than in Dougherty's own motion, but clearly he wasn't concerned or he would have "corrected" that, too. And I noticed a bit of this same phenomenon in Totka's kick, and it was always present in Lindsay Davenport throughout her playing career.

We rotorded ones have to be concerned, have to remain on the lookout for anything that might help our condition unless we've decided to give up. We're going to need some good independent elbow movement, so let it be of the rising variety. And maybe it can go up better if previously it just went down.

My concern recently has been with scapular adduction, which seems directly related to this question. But in one of his videos, "the serve doctor" stresses, that, one ought to think more about the muscles on the front side of the body, i.e., across the chest. He wants a feel of pulling the racket over the shoulder.

[bottle]

How Tennis Instruction is Taken

I remember reading a tennis book with an introduction by George Plimpton, who explained that because he had an affection for words and images, he frequently took them too literally and therefore was unable to follow most tennis instruction.

I have felt the same way for a long time. A tennis student, I intuit, is expected to make a jump from the presented words or imagery to another action that is totally different. The instruction comes in code, in other words, the bane of "how to" instruction of any kind.

Good little sheeple are best qualified to succeed in this "big jump." They seldom listen to the instruction anyway but rather use it as a clue to pleasing the master. And they're not too apt to challenge their own assumptions-- good jocks, they.

If that sounds too cynical, I'm sorry. In the present situation being examined, I'm actually optimistic. In addition to pulling the racket over the shoulder with rotation of the firm body-cylinder combined with throw from the triceps, one pulls with muscles across the chest-- an exact answer at last as to when somebody should "arch his back."

One part of the pre-load principle must be that as shoulders and triceps apply pressure in a forward direction, the chest must temporarily flex backward, which, coincidentally, lowers the racket tip more than in other more schematic formulae.

After one masters this, one can learn how to tilt the whole apparatus upward.

[bottle]

I see no reason to bend the knees as the hands drop in a down and up tossing structure.

A golfer starts out with knees comfortably bent, and a tennis player can do the same in this kind of basic serve.

Having knees already bent allows more time for smoothness of turn and equals one less thing to go wrong.

[tennis_chiro]

Good point!

I see no reason to bend the knees as the hands drop in a down and up tossing structure.

A golfer starts out with knees comfortably bent, and a tennis player can do the same in this kind of basic serve.

Having knees already bent allows more time for smoothness of turn and equals one less thing to go wrong.

I've always tried to get my players to "bow" the knees instead of really bending them, but the modern serve has more of a knee bend than the old "classics". However, even with greater knee bend, you do not want to toss the ball with your knees. So you find the loading of the legs with the knee bend takes place after the ball has left the tosser's hand

Roddick knee drop
Andy's somewhat violent knee action clearly takes place after the toss has left his hand

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/pro_men/andy_roddick/andy_roddick_v2/andy_roddick_v2.html?AR1stSDeuceSide-0273003-0001.mov

Sampras knee drop
There is barely any knee bend before Pete releases the toss

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/high_speed/High_Speed.html?PeteSampras1stServe.mov

Becker knee drop

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/modern_legends/borisbecker/borisbecker_serve/bb_toss/bb_toss.html?BB1stSAdTossSide2.mov

Isner knee drop
I thought we had an interactive forum video of Isner's serve, but I may be wrong and in any case I couldn't find it. This is a couple of year's old but it shows the same thing for Isner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r0JilvZXOQ&feature=fvsr

Roger Federer
I would say that Roger "bows" his knees before he releases the ball into the air and then makes his real "knee bend" after he has released the ball

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/phantom/Roger_Federer_HD_HS/Serve/RF_Toss/rf_toss.html?RF_1stS_Deuce_Toss_Side1_250fps.mov

don

[bottle]

Thanks Very Much

Seeing options is always great.

[bottle]

A System for DTL/CC

In the three decades that I've continuously played, I've never had such a system, or if I did, it wasn't whittled down or simple enough to be useful.

When I've seen this subject addressed in tennis books, the author was indeed apt to argue for system-- a very small difference, say, between crosscourt and down the line forehands caused only by adjustment of the hand.

My own system which I introduced here a few weeks ago has been simplifying itself. Theoretically, one could line up for a crosscourt every time but then do something different for down the line-- probably hit a slider.

That's a great ploy. But more workably in the long run, I think, one can line up for down the line every time even though crosscourts should happen far more often. One can incorporate the wisdom identified by Steve Navarro (don_budge) in the current discussion of Azarenka's forehand: i.e., one turns to aim before one turns to hit. With double-bend arm structure, which is naturally similar to a choked up bat in baseball, one can combine this with a compact loop. From even a prolonged aiming/measuring moment then-- not a bad idea!-- one can go up back and around and forward and still hit the ball in plenty of time.

Line up for the down the line shot, I say. One's target on the other side of the net is likely to be nearer that way.

Then, to hit the usually preferable crosscourt, do two things: 1) swing at a ghost ball one ball's width to the outside of where the real one will be and 2) roll arm in such a way that strings deflect to the inside.

Regardless of which shot you're hitting, use the same inside out swing that you would employ if you were hitting down the line every time.

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In Pitcher's Takeback Predominant Serves

If elbow goes down it must slightly squeeze at the same time-- that's essential part of the overall throw.

One can passively bend arm from reversal of shoulders only if elbow stays up with palm of hand turned down-- maybe not the best course of action for a rotorded server.

I'm thinking of the lady Amina's developing serve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um5q7Lx107k

Rippling down and up of elbow seems integral part of the forward "pitch."

As arm throws racket head into the ball it can high-five from which-- forearm or whole arm? Either will move the racket farther forward ahead of the hand, which equals hammering, desirable.

If arm is throwing racket head up into the ball for kick one wants strictly defined pronation from the forearm only, a positional device for scraping inside of the ball while delivering spin from late straightening arm. Whole arm then gets to turn out afterward. This all is meant to be a question rather than a statement.

It is very hard to tell when, from video, which is turning out, forearm or whole arm or both.

Later note: Several subjects are being addressed here. As to the idea of "rippling elbow," I've decided to forget it, Amina can have it. Me, I'll raise elbow once as part of my down and up, but not very high. Elbow will then work its way farther up as consequence of what the body does.

[bottle]

This Stuff is for Free

So why shouldn't we take advantage of it every chance we get?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgdXawklcZk&feature=relmfu

[bottle]

Re # 1078

Try keeping front foot flat for a long time like Amina to help charge up the core. (I'm thinking of a car battery.)